Transportation experts divided over MRT system

Transportation experts divided over MRT system

JAKARTA (JP): The proposed Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) system for
the capital remains the subject of acrimonious debate, with
experts weighing in on everything from the project's economic
feasibility to its environmental impacts.

In the latest round of discussion, transportation engineering
expert Alan Marino said the government must begin the MRT project
as soon as possible, because it not only would address the city's
traffic problems but also revive the construction sector.

Alan said Jakarta would always be a large city with millions
of residents.

The capital has a population of about nine million, though
this figure swells to about 12 million during the day.

"Buses and other forms of public transportation can no longer
accommodate the people, and traffic jams are getting dreadfully
bad," Alan told The Jakarta Post in a phone interview over the
weekend.

An MRT system, he said, would enable people to travel a
distance of 20 kilometers to 30 kilometers in less than an hour.

"Now it can take two hours to cover this same distance," Alan
said.

The problem, he said, is that the government continues to
insist that transportation projects must be as economical as
possible.

"They are afraid that if they set the fares too high, people
will not be able to afford it. That is not true."

The existing public transportation system is not economical,
Alan asserted.

"People often have to change buses, motorcycle taxis and
public minivans to reach one place. That costs them a lot but
they can afford it. So the point is how to arrange proportional
fares."

When the government increased the fares for trains in the
city, there was no fall in the number of passengers, he said.

The government has been studying the possibility of
constructing an MRT system since 1992, with a view to resolving
traffic congestion in the capital.

Governor Sutiyoso has stated the MRT project tops his
administration's list of priorities, and has vowed to push the
project forward as soon as he receives the approval of President
Abdurrahman Wahid.

However, the director for international affairs at Japan's
Teito Rapid Transit Authority, Kunio Kawakamian, warned recently
that the MRT project has a low feasibility.

But Alan is optimistic the project will yield profits. "This
country is certainly in a crisis, but toll road projects, for
instance, have proven profitable."

"(The MRT) is indeed a big project, but I believe that
investors will come, especially foreign ones."

Alan said he believed the MRT project would revive the
capital's construction sector and create a great number of new
jobs.

He said a similar project in Chile several years ago created
work for some 60,000 to 70,000 people.

Separately, an environmental expert from Bandung's Padjadjaran
University, Otto Soemarwoto, warned that the construction of an
MRT system could increase flooding in the city.

According to Otto, numerous construction projects in the city
fail to take into consideration such factors as if or how the
land will settle.

"Engineers often forget to factor into their construction
plans how much the land will subside. An example is the toll road
in Cengkareng, West Jakarta, where the land has subsided, causing
floods every year," he told the Post.

He urged the authorities to take into consideration every
angle of the MRT project. "If the whole project works well, we
will enjoy many benefits. Traffic jams will decrease and so will
air pollution." (hdn)